08 Feb 2017

Vice President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi says it is important for people to embrace, preserve and celebrate their culture at all the times.

He was speaking to multitudes of mourners who attended the funeral of the late Wayeyi kgosi, Mr Shikati Fish Malepe Ozoo who was laid to rest at the Kamanakao Royal Cemetery in Gumare on Sunday.

The Vice President praised Bayeyi for their continuous adherence to their cultural beliefs, saying despite their great loss, they should praise God for giving their kgosi up to 72 years to live.

Also present at the funeral was Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Slumber Tsogwane who regretted having to deliver a message of condolence at the time he thought he would be ordaining Kgosi Ozoo.

In May last year, government allowed the Wayeyi to become an independent tribe, hence the late Kgosi Ozoo’s validation as the official Wayeyi chief.

Mr Tsogwane described the late traditional leader as a humble person who treated issues with diligence and great wisdom.

“You wouldn’t be aware of his eminence because he never showed it,’’ he said, adding that the late ‘Shikati Mukando’’ a wayeyi term meaning ‘Kgosi’, was very thankful and had faith in what the Wayeyi tribe desired.

Thus, he encouraged the mourning tribe to have a wise and collective approach to what would follow after the loss of their kgosi.

“The chieftainship offer still stands and it is permanent; so you should decide on who takes over going forward,” he said, adding that their recognition as a tribe served as part of their history and therefore it was up to them to nurture it well.

Member of Parliament for Ngamiland, Mr Thato Kwerepe also praised the late Shikati Ozoo’s good deeds, saying he had left a legacy that every Wayeyi member should embrace.

“He was loving, had a listening ear, a good parent who truly moulded all of us,’’ Mr Kwerepe said, before appealing for calm and harmony on who is to be the new leader.

On behalf of Wayeyi chieftainship from Namibia, Shikati Mukando Shefu said the Wayeyi tribe in Namibia had known the deceased kgosi since 2005.

Shikati Shefu said Kgosi Ozoo stood firm for the rights of Bayeyi and that they would forever cherish such memories and his desire for the interaction of Bayeyi in Botswana and those in Namibia.

Nokaneng’s Kgosi Kebonyetsala Fish said his uncle died early morning of January 27 at his home in Nokaneng after being discharged from Princess Marina Hospital where he was admitted ill for quite some time.

Born on March 5, 1945, the late Kgosi Ozoo started work as a headman of records in Nokaneng in 1993 and was ordained as Wayeyi tribal leader after the death of Shikati Calvin Kamanakao on May 6, 2003. ENDS